Trying to append file to tar archive returns error “Cannot stat: No such file or dire

Simon_zhu · 06-11-2015, 05:39 PM

Just started using Linux and practicing using different commands, as a learning exercise I was trying to append a file to a tar archive that I created named "test.tar" using this command:

tar rvf test.tar newfile

Which returned the error:

tar: newfile: Cannot stat: No such file or directory
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

I also tried:

tar -rvf test.tar newfile

Which returned the same result.

Sefyir · 06-11-2015, 05:45 PM

what happens when you do ls?
It sounds like the newfile isn't in the directory. Change to the correct directory and try again?
The command works fine for me - but outputs the same error when I changed directories.

astrogeek · 06-11-2015, 05:49 PM

Then I would say that the file newfile does not exist in the current directory.

Does it? If so, what does ls -l say within the current working directory?

Simon_zhu · 06-11-2015, 11:02 PM

Facepalm... I was following the examples at this link: http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/04/...mand-examples/
And in example number eight I was given the impression that the command would create and append an empty 'newfile' to the tar archive. I didn't realize the file had to actually exist first... thanks for answering my stupid question guys lol